Hi everyone!
Torti family: I know Ella was supposed to do this post and the next but we have to be checked out of our hostel soon so I'm gonna do it real quick. Don't you worry, she will write the best blog EVER next time :)
Ok so last time we wrote, we were in Hokitika. We successfully hitched to Nelson with an awesome artist who lives in London, Christian. He was able to fit all 3 of us in his car and it was awesome to meet him. We stopped by the Pancake Rocks which were amazing and had some ice cream along the way. When we got to Nelson we checked into a hostel called Accents on the Park which has been our home since we got here. Our first night at Accents, Ella gave me a little haircut and we had a great dinner. Since we got here we've been to the beach and spent a lot of time at the library.
For Christmas Eve Ella, Hugh and I went out for a nice dinner and it was delicious. After we had our amazing steak and potatoes we had a traditional New Zealand dessert called Pavlova. It's kind of like a meringue cake with fruit and whipped cream, very tasty. Yesterday was Christmas and we celebrated by making french toast and swapping jade that we bought for each other in Hokitika. Then Ella bought her plane ticket to Thailand (yeah girl!) and we spent the rest of the day on the beach with a box of wine. Not such a bad day but definitely a bad head ache this morning.
Today Ella and I are starting another 3 day, 3 night hike called the Abel Tasman Track. It's going to be 3 days of walking on white sand beaches and sleeping under the stars so it will be awesome. We have no real plans for new years yet but that's always kind of a disappointing holiday so we'll figure it out when it rolls around.
I got really homesick yesterday after talking to my family on Skype, it was awesome to see everyone though! I hope everyone's christmas was great and we love you!
xoxo lilly
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Hokitika
Hi guys!
I don't remember when I last blogged so I'll do my best to get caught up. I think the last time I blogged, Ella and I had just gotten off the Routeburn Track.
The day after we left Queenstown we hitched to Franz Josef. We did a 9 hour glacier hike in Franz Josef and it was awesome! We made some delicious food at the hostel and then I finally satisfied my Lord of the Rings craving and watched the first movie. It was just as amazing as I remember :)
Yesterday we hitched from Franz Josef to Hokitika, the Jade center of New Zealand. It was pouring rain in Franz Josef but we were finally picked up by a great North Island couple, Grant and Jen. Thanks again you guys! Today Ella and I bought some jade for each other, it's bad luck to buy it for yourself so we got it for each other and are going to swap it for christmas. Tomorrow we hitch to Nelson and will be there for Christmas.
Ok that's all right now. I'm too tired to make this an interesting blog today.
We love and miss you guys a lot!
xoxo Lilly and Ella
I don't remember when I last blogged so I'll do my best to get caught up. I think the last time I blogged, Ella and I had just gotten off the Routeburn Track.
The day after we left Queenstown we hitched to Franz Josef. We did a 9 hour glacier hike in Franz Josef and it was awesome! We made some delicious food at the hostel and then I finally satisfied my Lord of the Rings craving and watched the first movie. It was just as amazing as I remember :)
Yesterday we hitched from Franz Josef to Hokitika, the Jade center of New Zealand. It was pouring rain in Franz Josef but we were finally picked up by a great North Island couple, Grant and Jen. Thanks again you guys! Today Ella and I bought some jade for each other, it's bad luck to buy it for yourself so we got it for each other and are going to swap it for christmas. Tomorrow we hitch to Nelson and will be there for Christmas.
Ok that's all right now. I'm too tired to make this an interesting blog today.
We love and miss you guys a lot!
xoxo Lilly and Ella
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
2 girls, 2 backpacks, and 20 miles of up hill
Hi everyone!
Once again, I apologize for the long wait on our post. We've been busy little bees over here. Currently listening to bagpipers outside our window (side note but i thought you might like to know).
The last we posted we were in Queenstown. We are back in Queenstown after a crazy adventure with our friend Hugh from Missoula. We met Hugh here on the 9th and headed to a little town called Wanaka the next day. We spent 2 nights there doing hikes and camping, playing on playgrounds and stealing showers from a hostel there. The next day we drove to Milford Sound, a gorgeous (but very rainy) place surrounded by mountains. We planned on camping the night we got there but it was pouring rain and had the worst sand flies (new zealand's version of a mosquito; way worse because you can't hear them coming), so we stayed the night in a hostel there. The next morning we went on a cruise through the sound with a couple cool British boys we met in the hostel; we saw a dolphin, seals, and stole enough free breakfast to last us a couple days. After the cruise, Hugh dropped Ella and me off at the start of the Routeburn Track and headed back to Queenstown. The Routeburn Track is a 4 day, 3 night hike and it was amazing! We slept on the hardest campsites I think either one of us has ever slept on, hiked for 7 hours in the sun up a mountain and had a blast doing it. We got off the track today and are staying in Queenstown tonight to catch up on sleep and rest our sore bodies, then are hitching to Franz Josef tomorrow to go glacier hiking! We will have internet there for the next 2 days so we will be in touch if anyone needs anything.
We both got a bit homesick on the hike, there's a lot of time to think when you're too winded to talk. We'll be missing home, family and friends with the holidays coming up so keep the comments coming :)
We love you guys!
xoxo Lilly and Ella
Once again, I apologize for the long wait on our post. We've been busy little bees over here. Currently listening to bagpipers outside our window (side note but i thought you might like to know).
The last we posted we were in Queenstown. We are back in Queenstown after a crazy adventure with our friend Hugh from Missoula. We met Hugh here on the 9th and headed to a little town called Wanaka the next day. We spent 2 nights there doing hikes and camping, playing on playgrounds and stealing showers from a hostel there. The next day we drove to Milford Sound, a gorgeous (but very rainy) place surrounded by mountains. We planned on camping the night we got there but it was pouring rain and had the worst sand flies (new zealand's version of a mosquito; way worse because you can't hear them coming), so we stayed the night in a hostel there. The next morning we went on a cruise through the sound with a couple cool British boys we met in the hostel; we saw a dolphin, seals, and stole enough free breakfast to last us a couple days. After the cruise, Hugh dropped Ella and me off at the start of the Routeburn Track and headed back to Queenstown. The Routeburn Track is a 4 day, 3 night hike and it was amazing! We slept on the hardest campsites I think either one of us has ever slept on, hiked for 7 hours in the sun up a mountain and had a blast doing it. We got off the track today and are staying in Queenstown tonight to catch up on sleep and rest our sore bodies, then are hitching to Franz Josef tomorrow to go glacier hiking! We will have internet there for the next 2 days so we will be in touch if anyone needs anything.
We both got a bit homesick on the hike, there's a lot of time to think when you're too winded to talk. We'll be missing home, family and friends with the holidays coming up so keep the comments coming :)
We love you guys!
xoxo Lilly and Ella
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Weird isn't necessarily bad....
Hi guys!
Ok, once again, a lot has happened since our last post. It's kind of inevitable I guess when you're moving as fast as Ella and I are though. We arrived in Queenstown yesterday; it is a gorgeous little town, right on a beautiful lake and sandwiched between the most gorgeous, tree covered mountains. It is very touristy and very expensive so our time in the actual town will be short. Today is Ella's birthday and to celebrate she is doing the tallest bungey jump in New Zealand! It's something like 440 meters or some shit I can't convert because I don't know the metric system but it is real high. I would have gone with her but I have no desire to throw myself off a cliff and fall through the air for 10 seconds so I'm holding down the fort til she gets back. We are going to meet with our friend Hugh from University tomorrow and go camping for a few days then we have another farm set up on the 14th.
Alright, so last we posted we were in Dunedin. We are far from there now. We hitched from Dunedin to a tiny town called Balclutha and had a hell of a time getting picked up because it was so small. We finally got picked up by a wonderful woman named Tracey and her daughter Tess. Tess is going to the olympics for rowing one day! She was so bad ass and it was wonderful to meet them. Tracey gave us a ride all the way to Colac Bay where we helped out at a restaurant for a few days. We were supposed to be there for about a week but they had us washing cars and scraping bird shit off buildings and picking cigarette butts off the parking lot.... needless to say we left early. I didn't fly across the damn world to pick up other people's trash. Anyway, we hitched from Colac Bay to an old student of my dad's in Balfour and stayed with her family for a couple days. Zoe, Maisey, Ethan, Hayden, John and Kim you guys were awesome and so funny, it was great to get to hang out with you! After we left Balfour we hitched a ride to Queenstown, had the best seafood chowder of our lives (seriously, there were like 6 whole mussels in each of our bowls!), and now we are here :)
Anyway, I love you guys. I got homesick for the first time the other night and I have red wine to blame for it. We think about you all all the time but are still having a blast. We love you!
xoxo Lilly and Ella
Ok, once again, a lot has happened since our last post. It's kind of inevitable I guess when you're moving as fast as Ella and I are though. We arrived in Queenstown yesterday; it is a gorgeous little town, right on a beautiful lake and sandwiched between the most gorgeous, tree covered mountains. It is very touristy and very expensive so our time in the actual town will be short. Today is Ella's birthday and to celebrate she is doing the tallest bungey jump in New Zealand! It's something like 440 meters or some shit I can't convert because I don't know the metric system but it is real high. I would have gone with her but I have no desire to throw myself off a cliff and fall through the air for 10 seconds so I'm holding down the fort til she gets back. We are going to meet with our friend Hugh from University tomorrow and go camping for a few days then we have another farm set up on the 14th.
Alright, so last we posted we were in Dunedin. We are far from there now. We hitched from Dunedin to a tiny town called Balclutha and had a hell of a time getting picked up because it was so small. We finally got picked up by a wonderful woman named Tracey and her daughter Tess. Tess is going to the olympics for rowing one day! She was so bad ass and it was wonderful to meet them. Tracey gave us a ride all the way to Colac Bay where we helped out at a restaurant for a few days. We were supposed to be there for about a week but they had us washing cars and scraping bird shit off buildings and picking cigarette butts off the parking lot.... needless to say we left early. I didn't fly across the damn world to pick up other people's trash. Anyway, we hitched from Colac Bay to an old student of my dad's in Balfour and stayed with her family for a couple days. Zoe, Maisey, Ethan, Hayden, John and Kim you guys were awesome and so funny, it was great to get to hang out with you! After we left Balfour we hitched a ride to Queenstown, had the best seafood chowder of our lives (seriously, there were like 6 whole mussels in each of our bowls!), and now we are here :)
Anyway, I love you guys. I got homesick for the first time the other night and I have red wine to blame for it. We think about you all all the time but are still having a blast. We love you!
xoxo Lilly and Ella
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Dunedin!
Hey guys!
Not much new to report but wanted to check in so you know we are alive and kickin. We left Palmerston yesterday and hitched into Dunedin. Goodwood Organics was absolutely fabulous, John and Ali were great hosts. And let me tell you, Ella and I were thankful to not have to pick strawberries for a while because that was way harder than we thought :) In our four days at Goodwood we pulled about 80 tons of weeds, churned soil and got 3 new healthy beds of crops planted. We got to hang out with some of John and Ali's friends who were all wonderful and we got to drink some great home brewed beer.
Dunedin is a pretty fun college city, but a city nonetheless. We are couchsurfing with a cool girl named Melanie who actually is also from Vermont (same as Ella). We took the bus out to the Otago Peninsula today to walk on the beach and are now in the public library using their internet. We're gonna go get some dinner, but it back to Melanie's house, then head out to our next farm tomorrow. It is actually a restaurant but we think we will be doing lawnwork and some gardening which will be fun. It's in Colac Bay which is right on the water and should be wonderful.
We miss you guys and think about you lots. We'll post again in probably a week or so (we're guessing most of the farms are going to be on dial up which is why i can't promise we'll post in a few days). Anyway, we love you and will post soon.
xoxo Lilly and Ella
Not much new to report but wanted to check in so you know we are alive and kickin. We left Palmerston yesterday and hitched into Dunedin. Goodwood Organics was absolutely fabulous, John and Ali were great hosts. And let me tell you, Ella and I were thankful to not have to pick strawberries for a while because that was way harder than we thought :) In our four days at Goodwood we pulled about 80 tons of weeds, churned soil and got 3 new healthy beds of crops planted. We got to hang out with some of John and Ali's friends who were all wonderful and we got to drink some great home brewed beer.
Dunedin is a pretty fun college city, but a city nonetheless. We are couchsurfing with a cool girl named Melanie who actually is also from Vermont (same as Ella). We took the bus out to the Otago Peninsula today to walk on the beach and are now in the public library using their internet. We're gonna go get some dinner, but it back to Melanie's house, then head out to our next farm tomorrow. It is actually a restaurant but we think we will be doing lawnwork and some gardening which will be fun. It's in Colac Bay which is right on the water and should be wonderful.
We miss you guys and think about you lots. We'll post again in probably a week or so (we're guessing most of the farms are going to be on dial up which is why i can't promise we'll post in a few days). Anyway, we love you and will post soon.
xoxo Lilly and Ella
Thursday, November 25, 2010
A little bit of everything!
Hey guys!
Sorry it's been so long, it turns out most of the places we're staying are on dial up internet which slows things down a bit :)
Things are going great over here for Ella and me. A lot of stuff has happened since the last blog so this may seem a bit scattered.
We arrived in Timaru on Saturday and hung out in town for a while. Timaru is a very cute little coastal town which happened to shut down by 4 p.m. everyday; a little weird for us but it was still great. We had planned on camping on the beach for the weekend but then it started to pour once we left the coffee shop. We walked around and tried to find a dry place to camp but to no avail. We were starting to get worried about sleeping outside when we were found by the sweetest woman named Jendy. She saw us looking lost, asked if we knew where we were going and offered us a room in her house when we told her we had nowhere to go. She took us home and introduced us to her wonderful husband, Phil, and their 5 dogs. They were so unbelievably generous and we felt completely at home with them. We stayed with them til Monday morning and then Jendy drove us to our first farm.
The farm was Treehugger Organics and our hosts were Nath and Steph. Nath bought the farm about 7 years ago and he had lots of strawberries for us to pick. His farm manager, Lee, was awesome and showed us the ropes of the farm. Later that afternoon a great girl from Germany called Magdalena joined us and the 3 of us WWOOFers worked together everyday.
We left Treehugger this afternoon and are already at our next farm in Palmerston called Goodwood Organics. Our hosts are John and Allison and they seem great.
I am missing all of you back home, not in a sad way but in a happy way. I love you and will post soon.
xoxo Lilly
Notes from Ella!
Timaru- um, hello twilight zone. lilly and i actually talked about whether or not the zombies had attacked and that's why no one was on the streets, we even laid out a plan of escape.
Bulldogs- never really had spent much time with them, absolutely fabulous. so much muscle and slobbery goodness rolled into a precious, loud breathing, heavy dog who seem to think they're lap dogs.
Tree Hugger Organics- i think i will smell of strawberries, garlic, and honey forever... and i'm definitely not complaining.
New Zealand, thus far, absolutely fabulous, though after the last week of wwoofing, i don't think my back will ever be the same. Nathan- never let the jungle patch get that out of control again :) . To lee and Magdalena- we couldn't have asked for a better thanksgiving abroad. Stephanie- anytime you're in the states i'll give you a place to stay if you're willing to do the cooking.
Love to everyone we've met thus far.
<3<3<3
Ella
Sorry it's been so long, it turns out most of the places we're staying are on dial up internet which slows things down a bit :)
Things are going great over here for Ella and me. A lot of stuff has happened since the last blog so this may seem a bit scattered.
We arrived in Timaru on Saturday and hung out in town for a while. Timaru is a very cute little coastal town which happened to shut down by 4 p.m. everyday; a little weird for us but it was still great. We had planned on camping on the beach for the weekend but then it started to pour once we left the coffee shop. We walked around and tried to find a dry place to camp but to no avail. We were starting to get worried about sleeping outside when we were found by the sweetest woman named Jendy. She saw us looking lost, asked if we knew where we were going and offered us a room in her house when we told her we had nowhere to go. She took us home and introduced us to her wonderful husband, Phil, and their 5 dogs. They were so unbelievably generous and we felt completely at home with them. We stayed with them til Monday morning and then Jendy drove us to our first farm.
The farm was Treehugger Organics and our hosts were Nath and Steph. Nath bought the farm about 7 years ago and he had lots of strawberries for us to pick. His farm manager, Lee, was awesome and showed us the ropes of the farm. Later that afternoon a great girl from Germany called Magdalena joined us and the 3 of us WWOOFers worked together everyday.
We left Treehugger this afternoon and are already at our next farm in Palmerston called Goodwood Organics. Our hosts are John and Allison and they seem great.
I am missing all of you back home, not in a sad way but in a happy way. I love you and will post soon.
xoxo Lilly
Notes from Ella!
Timaru- um, hello twilight zone. lilly and i actually talked about whether or not the zombies had attacked and that's why no one was on the streets, we even laid out a plan of escape.
Bulldogs- never really had spent much time with them, absolutely fabulous. so much muscle and slobbery goodness rolled into a precious, loud breathing, heavy dog who seem to think they're lap dogs.
Tree Hugger Organics- i think i will smell of strawberries, garlic, and honey forever... and i'm definitely not complaining.
New Zealand, thus far, absolutely fabulous, though after the last week of wwoofing, i don't think my back will ever be the same. Nathan- never let the jungle patch get that out of control again :) . To lee and Magdalena- we couldn't have asked for a better thanksgiving abroad. Stephanie- anytime you're in the states i'll give you a place to stay if you're willing to do the cooking.
Love to everyone we've met thus far.
<3<3<3
Ella
Friday, November 19, 2010
Sweet Caroline and Indian Sumner!
Hi everyone!
Ella and I have had massive success with everything so far!
We took the bus out to a little town called Sumner last night and camped on the beach. We swam in the ocean, read on the sand, ate ice cream at a cafe, it was awesome. We met a really sweet girl named Caroline who talked to us for a long while then set us up with some cardboard and a marker which helped us hitch a ride down to Timaru. We only had to wait for about 20 minutes before a lovely couple from New Brighton picked us up. We are now in Timaru, another little beach town, where our first farm stay is set up to start on monday. So besides for a slight sunburn for both of us, there really isn't anything we can complain about so far. I love you all, and no worries because we are doing great. xoxo Lilly
notes from Ella-
Osprey needs to fix their buckle clip system on their backpacks... two broken buckles, both not replaceable because the female end is stitched in there... WEAK
I somehow managed to sunburn one eye... so now i look like a racoon and yes you hams, i put on sunscreen for the first time ever and yeah. Also, how does someone go about sunburning one eye... and some weird triangle shape on my neck?
Everyone is NZ is absolutely delightful.. MeriKA... get your friendly on
Hitchhiking- fabulously easy. score
New zealand- lemonade in the states is wayyyy better, get on it
I think that's all for now, i'll probably have more... have fun in the cold weather suckaaaaas <3<3<3
Ella
Ella and I have had massive success with everything so far!
We took the bus out to a little town called Sumner last night and camped on the beach. We swam in the ocean, read on the sand, ate ice cream at a cafe, it was awesome. We met a really sweet girl named Caroline who talked to us for a long while then set us up with some cardboard and a marker which helped us hitch a ride down to Timaru. We only had to wait for about 20 minutes before a lovely couple from New Brighton picked us up. We are now in Timaru, another little beach town, where our first farm stay is set up to start on monday. So besides for a slight sunburn for both of us, there really isn't anything we can complain about so far. I love you all, and no worries because we are doing great. xoxo Lilly
notes from Ella-
Osprey needs to fix their buckle clip system on their backpacks... two broken buckles, both not replaceable because the female end is stitched in there... WEAK
I somehow managed to sunburn one eye... so now i look like a racoon and yes you hams, i put on sunscreen for the first time ever and yeah. Also, how does someone go about sunburning one eye... and some weird triangle shape on my neck?
Everyone is NZ is absolutely delightful.. MeriKA... get your friendly on
Hitchhiking- fabulously easy. score
New zealand- lemonade in the states is wayyyy better, get on it
I think that's all for now, i'll probably have more... have fun in the cold weather suckaaaaas <3<3<3
Ella
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Christchurch baby!
Hey all!
So Ella and I got into New Zealand just fine....well, after I was abused by the passport control beezy. just kidding, she was fine :) We spent last night in a hostel in the heart of the city called Base Christchurch. We got a good night sleep, walked around the city and got ourselves organized. Today we are going to walk to the grocery store and pick up some necessities then start our way down to Timaru. We are going to go out to the coast tonight to camp then try our hand at hitching to our next destination tomorrow. We are happy and healthy and together so no need to worry (this means you Chuck )!
We love you and will post soon.
p.s. our skype names are working also so you can get a hold of us that way as well.
xoxo Lilly and Ella
Monday, November 15, 2010
Heading out!
Hello friends and family!
Ella and I flew into LA today and were picked up by my brother Michael. We are going to stay tonight with him and cozy up for one more night of luxury before the trek begins. We will use tomorrow to finish organizing and relax before flying out at 9 p.m. We think the flight is around 15 hours and after a long haul in the air will land in Christchurch. If you want to get in touch with us we have our skype names up and running (lilly.herro1 and ellatorti), we also will have emails and are going to possibly get a phone once we get to New Zealand. We love all of you guys and will be thinking of you while we're adventuring! We'll post again in 2 days.
Lots of love, Lilly and Ella
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